There has recently been a pronounced increase in the types of communication applications that require the use of wireless data transfer. Such applications include, for example, video conferencing, video-on-demand, high speed Internet access, high speed local area networks, online gaming, and high definition television. In the home or office, for example, computing devices continue to be connected using wireless networking systems. Many additional types of devices are also being designed with wireless communication in mind.
At frequencies below about 3 GHz, antennas are generally omnidirectional, which cause antennas in proximity to interfere with each other, or experience what is known as “multipath.” At higher frequencies (e.g. from about 3 to about 60 GHz), signals become somewhat directional, which reduces the multipath issue mentioned above. However, at very close distances signal reflections of the receiver and transmitter reintroduce the multipath issue. These reflections cause signal interference and degrade the overall quality of the communication.
The 57-64 GHz (“60 GHz band”) band is located in the millimeter-wave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and has been largely unexploited for commercial wireless applications. In addition to the higher-data rates that can be accomplished in this spectrum, energy propagation in the 60 GHz band has unique characteristics that make possible many other benefits such as excellent immunity to interference, high security, and frequency re-use.
While wireless transmissions in the 60 GHz range exhibit the aforementioned beneficial characteristics, they still suffer from certain drawbacks, including the fact that such transmission typically only span a maximum distance measured in tens of meters. As mentioned above, very short distances between the receiver-side and transmitter-side of a high frequency system will reintroduce the multipath issue and cause signal reception interference. As such, there is a need in the art for a system and method which improves signal quality at millimeter wave frequencies by reducing multipath effects.